Now that Honkai Star Rail is finally here for real, developer HoYoverse is celebrating the turn-based anime game’s launch by throwing a special party with a bonus giveaway. The Honkai Star Rail Departure Festival is a livestream that will celebrate some of your favourite Honkai Star Rail characters so far, along with additional free passes for all players to help you get your hands on some more.
Pushing just past 11 million pre-registrations prior to launch, impressing PCGamesN in our Honkai Star Rail review, and with Twitch viewership that has exceeded that of mainstay games such as Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Call of Duty, Honkai Star Rail definitely seems like it’s here to stay. HoYoverse co-founder Wei ‘Dawei’ Liu delivers a message to players thanking them for their support so far.
“What’s going on, Trailblazers? It’s Dawei here to say thank you for getting aboard the Astral Express,” Dawei says with a wide smile. “In the past two days, Honkai Star Rail has been getting [an] exceptional reception in all corners of the world. Naturally, our gratitude cannot just be expressed with words,” he continues, “There should be gifts as well.”
“Therefore, we will be holding a Departure Festival on the night of April 30, as well as giving out ten Star Rail Special Passes to everyone as thanks.” This festival will feature a livestream on both Twitch and YouTube, with a “Stellaris Symphony” as the main feature of the event. All players will also be given ten Star Rail Special Passes on the day, which can then be used on select Honkai Star Rail banners.
Honkai Star Rail Departure Festival date and time
The Honkai Star Rail Departure Festival is on April 30. It will be livestreamed to the Honkai Star Rail YouTube and Twitch channels. Players will be given ten Star Rail Special Passes on the day of the event. Here is the start time for each respective region:
| Region | Departure Festival start time |
| US West | April 30 at 4:30am PDT |
| US East | April 30 at 7:30am EDT |
| UK | April 30 at 12:30pm BST |
| Europe | April 30 at 1:30pm CEST |
| China | April 30 at 7:30pm CST |
| Australia | April 30 at 10:30pm AET |
Make sure to check the Honkai Star Rail tier list and Honkai Star Rail codes list before you spend your free passes, and you’ll be able to put together the best Honkai Star Rail team comp in no time. If you’re just getting started as the weekend rolls around, check out a comprehensive guide to how Honkai Star Rail rerolls work and whether you should do them.